After the Second World War

Today Great Yarmouth’s ‘Golden Mile’, is packed with amusement arcades, which extend from the ‘Majestic’ on the end of Britannia Terrace to the ‘Showboat’ next to The Marine Public House, with only one or two other attractions in-between.

No new major developments have taken place, since the Sealife centre was completed, with only a few changes in the use of buildings and facade alterations being carried out here and there. These include the bowling greens either side of the Fountain Gardens being turned into a themed crazy golf course, and the Windmill cinema (originally The Gem) being converted from a children’s’ activity play area into a Ripley’s Believe It or Not attraction, consisting of weird and wonderful exhibits from all parts of the globe. Opening in June 1992, the building itself was restored to its former glory with the reinstatement of 1,500 light bulbs to the exterior. Another attraction which opened in October 1992, was Treasureworld and the Temple of Doom, which contain a shipwreck centre with five full sized simulations, and an Indiana Jones type experience with a crushing room and a snake and spider pit. This made use of the redundant Sandpiper public house.

The Royalty Theatre (originally the Aquarium) is still a cinema and theatre, with the original refreshment rooms at the rear being converted into a discotheque, now called ‘Rosie O’Grady’s’. The whole complex was once purchased by the Forte Group, who fitted the largest cinemascope screen in East Anglia. However it was later purchased by the Jay Leisure group, who now own many other entertainment establishments in Great Yarmouth. Now it has been leased to the Hollywood chain of cinemas, and has been recently refurbished boasting four screens, with plans for another two.

Although there has not been any new major developments, a few have been proposed.

One major proposal put forward to the borough’s planning department in 1994, was by Cornshire, a seafront based amusement company. The scheme was to remodel the 1960’s Tower Complex, by spending £5 million on changing the appearance externally, as well as creating new amusement arcades with bowling, bingo and restaurants. However, the application was refused on the grounds that it was against Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s policies regarding amusement arcade provision. Cornshire then appealed to the Department of the Environment but the appeal was rejected, by a government inspector , who stated in his report that

“the proposed change of use represented an extremely large increase in amusement arcade floor area . . and that . . the proposed change of use would be contrary to the local plan policies”.

A new £2.5 million, all year round entertainment and conference centre project has been put forward to the planning department by the Great Yarmouth Pleasurebeach. It aims to attract business to the town from the conference market, as well as staging live shows, concerts and sporting events.

Eleven of the buildings along the Marine Parade have been listed for their architectural and historic interest, as have many of the properties in the Victoria Building Company’s development, including buildings on Albert Square, Kimberley Terrace, Nelson Road South and Brandon Terrace.

The Camperdown Conservation area which was extended in October 1979, still looks the same today as it did when first built, (although a few buildings are in need of some repairs). The properties are still mainly used as tourist accommodation, either as hotels or boarding houses, of which many stay open all year round. Only a handful of the smaller boarding houses stay open out of season, with the rest being used by the owners for their private residence. If business has not been too good during the season, some have been taking in people with low incomes under the DSS Schemes. Although there has been pressure to change the properties from tourist accommodation into permanent residential use of either single or multiple occupation this has been refused in this area, as it has been designated by the Local Authority as a “Prime Holiday Accommodation” area.

Opposite Camperdown the Borough Council owned Wellington Pier has a new tenant. In 1994 Jim Davidson, of BBC television’s Big Break and Generation Game fame, held talks with Great Yarmouth borough council to clarify the details of him taking over the lease of the Wellington Pier Pavilion, on January 1st 1995. Jim’s plan is to refurbish and repair the pavilion to its former glory, and to provide his customers with a good show. Since he took the pavilion over the comic has agreed to run the complete pier operation with a 99 year lease, 25 years being rent free, but is facing repair bills totalling approximately £2 million.

All of the projects aim or aimed to attract more tourists to the town, and demonstrates that although the British holiday market is depressed at this current moment in time, there are still companies willing to invest for the future, not just for themselves but to provide Great Yarmouth’s “Golden Mile” with new attractions.